“You donot.” He makes that command as if he isn't literally chained to the bed, his voice dripping with that low growl. There have been a few times Maggie has growled at us, a deep feral sound that’s like a quiet bark. Sometimes it can come out like an actual bark, to which anyone in the room will stop, like a leash being yanked tight.
I sit and glare at him. “Why the show?” I ask, looking over his body, putting this all onhim. “Couldn't just come in and steal me for your men like you stole the other omega? Why did you go into theblight?”
“Politics, sweetheart. Sometimes, more effective and lesswork than by brutal force. Never injure your infantry if you don’t have to. And my business in there is none of yours.”
Oh, he’s such atwatfor thinking my body and freedom are justpolitics. “You’regreedyand want to ruin lives.”
“Yourkind sends feral alphas into murdering sprees, and then your belly swells with the babes of men who haven’t earned the right to a family. You’re risking the lives of many by wandering around, unmated. The things that will be done to omegas are worse than any story that circulates here.”
“Bywho?” I nearly answer by saying it’shim,but I hesitate when I see how intensely he can glare at me.
“Those in the southern bayous are expanding, and they makemelook like a knight in armor.”
A sound escapes my lips that almost sounds like a bird. “You’reprotectingus? Is that how you’re trying to spin this?”
He tilts his head like I’ve finally gotten the lesson. “Like an alpha should.”
I stare at the trolley, at the tools, then immediately avert my attention so as not to be obvious. That needle I’d need is still there, taped orange. I could end him. A single puncture to the carotid with the right compound, and he’d be gone before he could call out.
It’s anoption.
“Do you really want to know why I’m here?” he asks after a pause.
“Because my luck was bound to run out,” I bluntly reply.
A flicker of amusement crosses his face. “You need to come to terms with the fact that you are leaving with Dominion after this so you can properly integrate. I’m here to make that transition official.”
I nearly laugh out loud again, but I’m too paralyzed. It’s not the idea of being in Dominion that terrifies me. I’d grow used to their crazy ways, I’m certain of it. It’s knowing that a damn tether with one of his alphas would be formed without mypermission that makes my skin literally crawl. “Integrating myass.”
His eyes narrow slightly, and I nearly bow my head in apology. “I have a feeling your days unmated are rapidly dwindling,nurse. You need a good knotting to cull that attitude.”
I shift so much in my stance that I nearly trip. “I doubt any one of your men can give me what Ineed. It’s this thing calledrespect.”
“We live and die by respect, or disrespect.”
“You’re,” I sputter, my lips moving rapidly as I feel this carnal rage. “You’re apig!”
He laughs, which confuses the fuck out of me. I’m pretty sure people who talk like this to him arekilled,but these are proclamations I’ve been living by my whole life, and they’re desperate to get out.
“Tell me your name,” he demands.
“No.”
Fuck this fucker. I glare at the door, like maybe I should bolt. What do Ido? Should I try the sedation?Run. Cramping again. He won’t know if I take one. I dip my hand into my pocket. “I need toleave.”
“You will do no such thing. You came in last because you will be here for a while. And you willnotbe taking those fucking pills.”
My gaze slices to meet his. “How do you know I even have them on me?”
“I have a brain. Context clues and a strong nose, sweetheart. Those rocks rub together quite nicely.”
Now I’m just mad, because he can’t actually make funny jokes. “Has it ever occurred to you that omegas are people, too? With hopes? Dreams?”
“Your body is designed for an alpha.”
Oh, now I’m just going to let it all out. “Okay, wild idea, Iknow, but imagine where I get to live my life and have an alphaIchoose. Bizarre, right?”
“And what if you like none of the choices?”
